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bonniepunch

Where the heck are the ladybugs?

bonniepunch
18 years ago

I have seen hardly any ladybugs this year! Anyone else notice this?

I don't have all that many bad bugs to attract them this year, so that's certainly a part of it, but I haven't seen any adults around at all. On a nasturtium that was *black* with aphids there was only one larva munching away - I've never seen so many aphids for so long without ladybugs finding the feast.

I've got lacewings galore and there are tons of aphid mummies, so the parasitic wasps are here too, but where are the ladybugs?!?

I miss my ladybugs!

BP

Comments (14)

  • Las_Palmas_Norte
    18 years ago

    BP...There's plenty out my way. I'll put in a good word and have 'em fly your way. I just wish I could get rid of the mites on the bamboo without a systemic.

    Cheers, Barrie (Vancouver Island)

  • marilenav1
    18 years ago

    Bonnie,

    I wonder if it is the heat we've had this summer that is affecting their return. I always get ladybugs at this time of year but they are nowhere to be seen.

  • signet_gw(6b)
    18 years ago

    Thank goodness they are nowhere to be found this year ....The last two years in my area , we were inundated with them..to the point that you couldnt walk outside without getting a mouthful, there were clouds of them ....I brought plants in last fall and I guess they had laid eggs in the plants or something and in about a month, I was fighting with the darn things in the house ...they were in my pot lights and in the track lights, crawling all over the windows.. ....they were everywhere, we were literally overrun with them ....cant say as I am missing them this year ...a few are cute , some are great to eat the aphids but the masses and masses we had were not pleasant and to top it all off they bit ...and it hurt ..and I have no clue as to why there were so many....and this year so few ....
    I do wonder if they were really our home grown canadian ladybugs or those imported things that the grocery stores and nurserys were selling by the box to dump in one's gardens. I have read that these imports are taking over and decimating the native populations of lady bugs. They are orange with black spots rather than red.
    Signet

  • alexg
    18 years ago

    In my garden they have surely been eaten by the carnivorous grasshoppers - all 10 billion of them :(

  • bonniepunch
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    You want to loan me a few of those grasshoppers? They might take care of my squirrel problem :-)

    I've heard that the yellow ladybugs will swarm and bite, but I didn't know the orange ones did it too. So far I've only ever had the red ones, I've never even seen a yellow one in my yard. It seems there's never a happy medium of anything is there?

    Oh well, at least the aphids have more than one predator that's showing up, so they won't get out of control.

    BP

  • tiffy_z5_6_can
    18 years ago

    BP,

    Same thing here. Very few ladybugs this year. And butterflies too. My gardens are usually loaded with American Painted Lady butterflies, but I've seen so few this year it worries me. Kids often mistake them for Monarchs.
    We did see more Sphinx Moths also known as Hummingbird Moths. so I was happy about that.

    Just didn't seem to be enough predators for those bad bugs this year!

  • jroot
    18 years ago

    I've only seen about 3 this past week. Very strange.

  • bonniepunch
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    I've just read something very interesting/alarming. Those Asian ladybugs (Harmonia axyridis) are quite possibly the reason I'm not seeing my usual ones. They come in yellow, orange, and even red - they're often called the Harlequin ladybug. Apparently they eat not only aphids, but also lacewings, butterflies, and *other ladybugs*! They also damage fruit crops because they feed on fruit juice as winter approches. They are much more agressive than our native ones - they bite, and swarm.

    And it's pretty well too late to stop them - they've been widely released in North America and are now the most common species.

    Great.

    BP

  • glen3a
    18 years ago

    Maybe it's just the natural cycle of things. Now that you bring up the subject, I haven't seen many lady bugs this year either. Maybe a couple at most.

    Most years I see quite a few, and last year there must have been a population explosion because they were everywhere. I remember having a hard time in spring digging near plants because they often hide under the leaves that I use as mulch.

    I did see my first hummingbird hawk moth this year, though.

    Glen

  • msjean
    18 years ago

    I never worry about too many of any kind of bug. Eventually, there will be a bigger bug who will even up the score and things will resume as they should,
    The natural law of supply and demand will take care of the problems if only mankind would leave the balance of nature...to nature.
    Pesticides and such do more harm than good...in more ways than one.
    ....IMHO.....

  • signet_gw(6b)
    18 years ago

    Do do, do do , do do ......they're here!! Just in the last couple of days we have had a small explosion of ladybugs....and they are in the biting mood....YucK.....I used to love ladybugs.....

    Oh ,there is some university (cant presently think of the name I'll have to see if I can track down the info again) that is asking people to take note of the ladybugs they see.....counting the dots on their backs (tells if they are native species or not ) ....they are trying to determine the extent of the extinction of the native ladybug....

    Signet

  • harlgr8dane
    18 years ago

    I think that the strange weather we had at the beginning of the season is the why we maybe dont have as many lady bugs...in 2004 in April there were millions of them around here. This year, just when they were starting to come back, we got that really weird cold spell - when it snowed in late April around here and I think that killed many off - or at least thats my theory...

  • norm52
    14 years ago

    can anyone help me find a place to buy lacewings an spined soldier bugs

  • bev_w
    14 years ago

    Your member page doesn't say where in Canada you live, but you can try this list for suppliers in Canada and the USA.

    Here is a link that might be useful: beneficial insect suppliers

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